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-   -   Your thoughts on SOPA? (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=10557)

Mark II 01-19-2012 03:32 AM

Organized protest and citizen involvement can be effective; it sounds like there is movement in Congress to pull back the bills for retooling. I think that they need to go much further than that; I think that the whole rationale and purported need for these bills should be seriously reexamined. Content companies are not hurting for business or profits. They have been doing better than the national average. There needs to be a truthful, fact-based examination of whether copyright violations actually cause economic harm. Songs aren't widgets. Making an extra copy of a song doesn't use up any additional resources, and it needs to be demonstrated that it actually deprives the company of a sale. It is also not artists who are primarily making a stink about this, but rather the companies that they are under contract with. It is unclear whether these proposed bills would do anything at all to help actual artists or content creators. Patent and copyright laws are intended to promote the advancement of the art, not to guarantee a certain level of profit for entities that acquire the work of artists but who create none of it themselves. These proposals were created in response to heavy lobbying pressure by and large campaign contributions from major copyright houses and media companies. I'm sorry, but record company execs aren't starving artists.

tbzep 01-19-2012 07:13 AM

If/when SOPA passes, it will be the new Prohibition. A few casual "drinkers" will be affected, but the vast majority will not be deterred from their distribution and consumption.

gpoehlein 01-19-2012 07:32 AM

I was listening to All Things Considered last night and they did a story about SOPA - they played a quote from a spokesman from the movie industry (who, although I don't remember his name, I seem to remember he used to BE in congress) who basically called all the protesters (Google, Wikipedia, etc) crybabies. Why, the movie and music industry NEEDS this bill to fight back against the hoards of digital pirates who are poised to destroy the movie and music industry with their greedy ways. Why, to NOT suppoert these bills is to be totally unamerican! (because everyone KNOWS that we need to preserve the profits of big business over the rights of the average citizen). Have you decided which overlord you wish to serve?

OTOH, I hear a number of Republican senators are jumping ship based on the protests and resulting storm of constituent communications - I also heard the flow of emails into some of the congressional offices shut down their servers for a while.

Greg

Scott21 01-19-2012 08:48 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark II
<snip> These proposals were created in response to heavy lobbying pressure by and large campaign contributions from major copyright houses and media companies. I'm sorry, but record company execs aren't starving artists.

'Nuff said.

Doug Sams 01-19-2012 09:05 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by gpoehlein
Why, the movie and music industry NEEDS this bill to fight back against the hoards of digital pirates who are poised to destroy the movie and music industry with their greedy ways. Why, to NOT suppoert these bills is to be totally unamerican! (because everyone KNOWS that we need to preserve the profits of big business over the rights of the average citizen). Have you decided which overlord you wish to serve?
I'm not very learned of the bill, but the one snippet I saw called for web sites to not link to pirated material (on other sites). That's asking web masters to do the dirty work. We already have enough crap laws like that - getting carded to buy cold medicine comes to mind. (I look forward to the day that gets repealed.)

I understand the need to protect IP - Lord knows there's enough copying going on in Asia - but this certainly ain't the right way to do it.

As for big business, keep in mind, they're big employers, too :) While I don't want to see them get preferential treatment, they too have IP which needs to be protected, which benefits many of us.


Doug

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ghrocketman 01-19-2012 10:49 AM

Hate it. Quite frankly I don't like anti piracy laws AT ALL.
This country needs more regulation OF ANYTHING like it needs more national debt.

Dannycolossus 01-19-2012 08:34 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark II
It is also not artists who are primarily making a stink about this, but rather the companies that they are under contract with.

Because most artists get paid to write the song or script, up front, and gets either a very small cut or none at all whenever their work is used. So really, the companies are raising crap because theyaren't making as much money as they could for something they paid someone else to do in the first place. America: the government by the big corporations, of greed, and for money. The allmighty dollar is what half the crap in Washington relate to: not how to help the country or anything like that, but making stupid restrictions like the cold medicine thing, treat everyone with a head cold like the 1% who use it for something stupid in their trailer park. If they stopped regulating stuff that heavily, there wouldn't be a problem, lots of the stuff druggies do is to circumvent the overly strict laws. if someone wants to act stupid let them. The same goes for internet. If someone buys a pirated CD or goes to copy a song they already bought, let them, don't basically shut down the whole freaking web on the begging of multimillion dollar companies.


BTW, this may be interesting, the (non-American) owners of Megauploader were arrested by American cops on foreign soil for running a site that may become against american law. that may be a tiny little overstepping of jurisdiction there... :rolleyes:

luke strawwalker 01-19-2012 11:53 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dannycolossus

BTW, this may be interesting, the (non-American) owners of Megauploader were arrested by American cops on foreign soil for running a site that may become against american law. that may be a tiny little overstepping of jurisdiction there... :rolleyes:


Not for the Empire...

Later! OL JR :)

Mark II 01-20-2012 05:23 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dannycolossus
BTW, this may be interesting, the (non-American) owners of Megauploader were arrested by American cops on foreign soil for running a site that may become against american law. that may be a tiny little overstepping of jurisdiction there... :rolleyes:
So if authorities are able to do that now, then what is the need for SOPA/PIPA?

mycrofte 01-20-2012 08:00 AM

Like some of you said, it isn't about protecting the artist, it is about corporations making MORE money than they already are.

I have yet to know ANYONE making money off of copied material. Like myself, they do it for home entertainment. Or, like my music, I make CD copies for my truck and keep the original at home.

Other than that, it is because the stuff I want is priced at $60 plus, while "Friends" goes for $19.99 per season!
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